Category Archives: Teens

Oklahoma votes on marijuana ballot in March

In 2018, Oklahoma Senator James Lankford warned of the medical marijuana question on the state ballot: “This state question is being sold to Oklahomans as a compassionate medical marijuana bill by outside groups that actually want access to recreational marijuana.”

The time has come, and Oklahomans will vote next month on Question 820, a marijuana legalization and commercialization bill. The State Supreme Court ruled that the ballot could not be included in the 2022 midterm election. Governor Kevin Stitt set the date for March 7.

By December 31, 2022, five donors gave over $3.2 million in support of legalizing marijuana, a big commercial enterprise. According to Ballotpedia, the opposition had not yet raised moneyHowever, Protect Our Kids PAC is currently raising funds to oppose the ballot. Continue reading Oklahoma votes on marijuana ballot in March

SAM issues rebuttal to CPEAR Paper

Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) issued the following rebuttal to a paper by CPEAR, a group pushing nationwide legalization. The paper argues that youth marijuana usage does not go up after state legalization. We maintain that the fallout from high potency THC products on the teens’ use is the real issue. Several legalization states are now addressing the potency issues.

A new policy paper released on March 16, 2022 by the Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education, and Regulation (CPEAR), funded by Molson Coors, Altria (Philip Morris), private cash and other companies is highly flawed and does not advance the discourse on the effect of state marijuana laws on youth marijuana use.

The alcohol and tobacco industry-backed industry group CPEAR is a regulatory-focused group that is partnered with and funded by industries that directly benefit from the legalization of marijuana. Some of their partner groups include: Altria, Molson Coors, and security, insurance, and convenience store associations.1 Their mission is to legalize marijuana nationally.

Summary

CPEAR’s assertion that marijuana legalization is not tied to increases in youth marijuana use is not supported by their evidence lumping all states together and looking at a national number—and several states have shown increases in youth use since legalization. Continue reading SAM issues rebuttal to CPEAR Paper

A Dangerous Gap in our medical marijuana laws

Published in the Colorado Springs Gazette, February 28, 2021. By Libby Stuyt, MD, a Professional Advisor to Parents Opposed to Pot

When Coloradans in 2000 voted to legalize marijuana for medical use, the highest concentration of THC, marijuana’s high-inducing chemical, was 5%, and concentrated products didn’t exist.

Over the last 20 years, the industry has dramatically increased the concentration of THC. The average in the plant is now 18.8%. The industry also created concentrates, including vape oil and resins known as wax and shatter, with average THC potency of 69.4% and up to 95% THC. Continue reading A Dangerous Gap in our medical marijuana laws

HHS Data, Monitoring the Future data show troubling trends

Youth drug use increases in legalized states

State-level data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the most authoritative study on drug use conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA), found significant increases in youth marijuana use in several recently legalized marijuana states versus last year.  At the same time, mental illness indicators worsened across the country while alcohol, cocaine, and tobacco use dropped, especially among young people. Continue reading HHS Data, Monitoring the Future data show troubling trends